


There For You

by BlackBurden



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-06
Updated: 2013-06-06
Packaged: 2017-12-14 03:02:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/831952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBurden/pseuds/BlackBurden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat's been holed up for days. Nobody's seen him.</p><p>It's Sollux's job to try and coax him out of his room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There For You

**Author's Note:**

> This is also an older piece. I think I wrote it about ... six months ago? Maybe seven?
> 
> I wrote this one day when I was feeling kind of sad. Apparently writing when sad equals 8 pages of SolKat fluff?
> 
> Anyway, Karkat is incredibly OOC in this. I made him like that partly on purpose, since the whole point is he completely broke down.
> 
> Also, a few of my headcannons are apparent in this. LOL Don't shoot me.

Quiet curses and even quieter grumbling was all that could be heard all throughout the hall aside from footsteps and the low hum of machines. Sollux hated it when the others forced him into things, he always had. But he hated it even more when they forced him into the much too arduous task of cheering someone up, especially when he himself was in the worst mood possible.

Karkat had been holed up in his room for a while. Nobody had seen a single hair of him in almost a week, and nobody knew why. The only reason they’d chosen Sollux for this job was because he and Karkat were probably closer friends than any of them.

And because Karkat often had to do what Sollux was about to. Whether any of them liked it or not, it was a proven fact that even if Karkat was bossy and had a tendency to yell, he also cared about them enough to want them in good spirits. Not surprising, really, since they had to be ready to fight Bec Noir when the meteor arrived in the new universe.

The door to Karkat’s room soon came into sight and Sollux took a deep breath. He’d seen Karkat in many moods but he honestly wasn’t quite sure what to expect when he walked in. If he had to dodge something colliding with his head, he might just walk right back out and give up.

But when he grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open a crack, he was not assaulted by a string of curses. When the door was opened further, he did not have to dodge anything flying at his head. ‘Well …’ Sollux thought, then frowned slightly. That was either a good thing or a bad thing.

“KK?” He finally spoke, quietly shutting the door. When there was no immediate response, Sollux stepped into the much too dark room, having to reach out and feel in front of him for any desks or chairs or other furniture. This was ridiculous. Trolls had the natural ability to see in the dark, but there was so little light that Sollux had to strain his eyes to just make out the general shadow or outline of objects.

There was no way he’d find Karkat in this.

Stopping for a second, Sollux held his breath to listen. The room was very quiet, unusually quiet. Maybe Karkat wasn’t even in here? He was about to turn and leave when he heard a quiet, almost non-existent intake of air. Thankfully, his sense of direction was fantastic so he didn’t need to hear it twice to know where it had come from.

Getting over there was slow, but there ended up being nothing in his way. His knee hitting the edge of Karkat’s bed made him stumble and almost fall forward onto it, but he managed to regain his balance.

“KK?” Sollux tried again, voice quieter since he was obviously closer to the other troll.

A soft whimper. Well, it wasn’t quite the response he was looking for, but at least it was a response. But now he was getting worried, forgetting his own annoyance. Karkat did not whimper, or whine, or make any sound so pathetic. It was just something Karkat did not do.

Sollux reached out and his fingertips met warm skin. He quickly realized that he was touching Karkat’s arm and that the other was sitting up, leaning back against the wall. He also realized that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

Judging by the fact that he hadn’t growled at him, or clawed at him, or tried to get him to back off in general, Sollux could tell that he really mustn’t be feeling well.

Karkat was always so touchy when it came to his problems. It could be blatantly obvious he was upset about something, but he would bite anyone’s head off if they tried to comfort him. Maybe it made him feel weak, but right now he didn’t seem to care.

After a moment’s contemplation, Sollux slowly got onto the bed. When Karkat still didn’t react aggressively, he crawled over to sit beside him. For a second he was tense, expecting the other to snap at him for invading his personal space. That didn’t happen.

Silence enveloped them for several minutes before Sollux spoke again. “KK, what’th up with you?”

Karkat only shrugged.

“The other’th have been contherned about you.”

A nod.

“I’ve been worried too.”

Another nod.

Sollux growled slightly. “Will you THAY thomething?” He asked, quickly getting annoyed at the lack of response.

“No.”

The broken tone of his voice made any anger Sollux had dissipate. He sighed a little. “KK-“ He cut off when suddenly the temperature dropped. In an instant it was cold. This was a common occurrence. It was impossible to predict when it would happen, but after the first few times they all figured out that when it happened, it would be cold for a few days following. Not painfully cold, but cold enough that most of them walked around with blankets or sweaters.

Karkat didn’t move. He didn’t grab a blanket, didn’t even get up to go put a shirt on. After just a few seconds, Sollux was shivering. Karkat was too, but he still wasn’t moving.  
“A-aren’t you cold?”

Karkat shrugged. “Don’t care.”

Sollux frowned at that. “Theriouthly, what’th wrong with you? You’ve never been tho deprethed before.”

All he was probably going to get was a shrug, or silence. Nothing happened for several minutes and Sollux was just about to completely lose it when suddenly there was pressure on his arm. In the dark he could just make out a mess of black hair to indicate that Karkat was leaning against him. Every exhale was warm against his skin.

He didn’t speak. How could he? Karkat hated physical contact like this, but he was initiating it. ‘Try to understand.’ Sollux told himself, then took a deep, shaky breath. Damn it was cold.

“You’re cold.” Karkat said, as if reading his mind.

“N-no shit.” Sollux grumbled in response, resisting the urge to reach over and cling to the other troll for warmth. When Karkat sat up again, Sollux almost whined and pulled him back. He heard slight shuffling, and then to his relief, Karkat leaned against him again. He also threw a blanket around their shoulders.

Sollux quickly wrapped them both up in the obnoxiously large blanket. Karkat loved big, fluffy blankets. It didn’t take long before they both stopped shaking, warm again in the safety of the blanket.

“KK, are you feeling alright?” Sollux asked after a while, voice calm and even … soft? It appeared fluffy blankets had an effect on him …

“No.” The other replied after a few seconds.

“Why? What’th wrong?”

“I don’t know … I just … suddenly don’t care … About anything.”

“That’th not like you.”

“I know.”

The conversation died there and they fell back into silence, but this one was comfortable. Sollux noticed how every so often Karkat would shift slightly, moving closer to him. At first it was odd, but he didn’t say anything. Rather quickly, however, he realized that he didn’t mind. It might be odd because nobody was ever really that cuddly and because it was Karkat of all people, but it was nice.

At some point Karkat gave up the slow advances and instead just crawled into his lap, curling up against him. Sollux, in turn, wrapped his arms around him, pulling the blanket closer around them now that that was an easier task. A strange sound reached his ears but he dismissed it as sounds from some nearby machine.

But then Karkat turned his head a little so that the side of his face was against Sollux’s collarbone and the top of his head against his chin, and that’s when it became apparent that the sound was not from a machine.

Karkat was purring.

Sollux decided to forgo asking and instead just rested his head atop the other’s, holding him close. Damn, it was going to suck when Karkat went back to normal. This side of him was so nice …

“You’re purring.”

“Huh?” Sollux questioned, then realized that he hadn’t even noticed when he’d started. Well, no point in stopping now. “Oh, uh … Tho are you.”

“I know.”

Sollux chuckled a bit, closing his eyes. This was so peaceful and he was so comfortable that he could literally just fall asleep. Karkat tilting his head up stopped him from doing that. Karkat lightly kissing his chin made him not want to fall asleep anymore.

“KK?” He questioned.

The other only purred, nuzzling against his neck. Sollux was unable to suppress a shiver. Karkat had never acted like this. All of them were under the impression that he was naturally just an angry, irritable troll. That made Sollux wonder if what was happening right now was really a side to Karkat no one had ever seen before, or if he was just so confused and unstable that he was acting this way.

Part of him seriously hoped it was the former.

Sollux brought one hand up, gently running his fingers through Karkat’s hair. Karkat sighed, content, and snuggled as close to him as he could. ‘I shouldn’t be doing this.’ Sollux thought, but couldn’t bring himself to stop. Even if he didn’t want to admit it to himself, he really liked Karkat this way. Really did.

The things he was thinking now, they couldn’t possibly be the right things to think. He wanted so bad just to touch Karkat in ways he’d never thought of before … Okay, that was a lie. There were times where he’d think of his friend like that, but usually he could convince himself he was just being stupid. This time he could not.

‘I need some air.’ He told himself. ‘But I can’t leave KK alone …’

No, he couldn’t and wouldn’t leave Karkat alone. He knew from personal experience what it felt like to be alone, and to just want somebody to hold. Of course, he’d never gotten it himself but he sure as Hell could give it to Karkat right now, since he was accepting it anyway.

His free hand moved to rest on Karkat’s waist and he frowned. “KK, you’re tho thin.” He murmured.

“Hmm? No, I’m not.”

“Your ribth are thticking out.”

“… Oh …” He turned his head a bit to press his face into Sollux’s shoulder, grabbing his arm with one hand while the other curled into a fist against his chest.

“When wath the latht time you ate?”

“… I don’t know.” Karkat answered quietly. He seemed frightened all of a sudden. “A while ago, I guess …”

“How long ith ‘a while’?”

“… Couple days. A week at most.”

“KK, that’th bad for you.” Sollux tried not to sound so concerned.

“I wasn’t hungry …”

Sollux sighed, going quiet. After a minute an idea came to him. “I’m going to make you thomething.” He decided.

Karkat whimpered but didn’t protest or struggle when Sollux lifted him off of his lap and set him down on the bed. “Thtay here. That blanket better not be off of you when I get back.”

He got no verbal response, but he didn’t want to wait any longer. He lightly pet his head for a second before turning and making his way out of the room. He thought he heard a quiet whimper just as he was shutting the door, but didn’t turn back to be sure. If he went back in, he might not come back out anytime soon.

The cold air got to him quickly and he had to stop at his own room and grab a sweater and socks before going back out. When he reached the kitchen, he saw that only a few the others were missing from the table. Those who were there were apparently playing a card game of some sort.

Terezi, ironically, first noticed his approach and looked up, staring sightlessly in his direction. “Hey Sollux!” She said. “Is Karkles okay?” At this, everyone else paused what they were doing and looked up, waiting for an answer.

For a second, Sollux wasn’t sure how to respond. But then he nodded slowly. “Sure, why not.” He answered, then went to open cupboards. He quickly found what he was looking for and put water into a pot, setting it to boil.

“That’s not very specific, but okay.” Terezi said and shrugged.

Dave appeared to have something to say about it, though. “Well, the guy didn’t tear you up so that’s a good thing.”

Sollux was about to ask why he would do such a thing but Kanaya got to speak before him.

“Karkat is not always as violent as he makes himself out to be.”

“Maybe so, but he’s normally still a grouch.” Terezi put in. Sollux tensed, glad he had his back turned to them, staring at the water as if doing so would make it boil faster. He wanted to get out of that room immediately.

“And he yells a lot.” Eridan added. Never before had Sollux wanted to claw his face off so bad. The water was boiling, so he put the soup mix into it. Cook faster damn it …  
“Guys …” Rose tried to say but they ignored her.

“And bossy.” Vriska

“And secretive.” Tavros.

Sollux clenched his teeth.

“Maybe it would be-“ Kanaya tried to say, but she was interrupted.

“Sometimes I think he needs a reality check.” Eridan.

Sollux actually growled. None of them seemed to notice.

“Or maybe we could beat some sense into him.” Vriska. She probably had this incredibly malicious sneer on her face …

The soup was done. Thank God.

“Everyone-“ Rose again.

Sollux filled a bowl with soup.

“Or just ditch him. Not like he does much around here anyway.” When Vriska said that it was the last straw. Sollux spun around and more or less snarled. Not at her, but at all of them who were speaking against Karkat.

Every single face turned to him and he went off on a rant in Alternian. That was something he never did unless he was just that angry.  
“Fuck all of you!” He snarled. “How can you say shit like that? KK’s been fair to ALL of us and he’s done more than any of you ever could! Fuck, he’s kept us all TOGETHER and he’s been there for every single one of us at least once! Some of us would be dead by now if it weren’t for him! He goes out of his way all the fucking time for our sake! You’re all ungrateful assholes for going off on him behind his back like that! Everybody has a breaking point and we’ve all reached ours so many times and he’s been there for them! But have any of you ever seen him break down? I don’t think so! He concerns himself with our wellbeing while we don’t give him anything in return! GROW THE FUCK UP AND GET A GRIP!”

With that he promptly turned, grabbed the bowl of soup and a spoon, and stormed out of there, still growling under his breath. “Fucking stupid asses.” He hissed as he went down the hall. He actually had to slow down so he could calm himself down before going back to Karkat.

By the time he reached the door, he was pretty sure he had a good enough hold over his emotions and he went inside, making sure to shut and lock the door behind him. “KK?” He questioned, hating how tense his voice was but ignoring it for now.

“Sol?” Karkat actually sounded surprised. “You came back?”

Sollux went over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Of courthe I did.” He replied. “I thaid I would, didn’t I?”

Karkat response was to purr softly and sit up.

“Here.” Sollux said and held out the bowl of soup to him.

Karkat took it after a moment. “Thanks.” He said quietly. Sollux nodded even though he doubted Karkat could see and kept his eyes on the door, glaring at it. He knew it was locked, but he couldn’t help the feeling of anger he still felt and he would tear a throat out if any of them were to step through that door right now.

After a few minutes, he was aware that Karkat had stopped eating. He’d probably eaten it all. But Sollux didn’t turn around until he could feel the bed shaking slightly and heard the quietest of sniffling sounds.

“KK?” He questioned.

“Hm?” It was broken, and shaky, and Sollux knew he was crying. He knew Karkat hated to cry, especially in front of others, so this came as a surprise to him. Sollux frowned and took the now empty bowl from Karkat’s lap, setting it on the floor before moving to sit next to his friend again.

“What’th wrong?” He asked, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

Karkat whimpered and scrambled into his lap again, hugging him tightly and burying his face in his shoulder. He was shaking. Sollux had no idea what to do. Without realizing it, he started growling softly. It was a soothing sound not many trolls ever had to use, but it was still an option. His arms went around him and he held him as close as possible.  
It took some time, but Karkat finally stopped shaking, his sniffles dying down. “I heard you.” He murmured against his shoulder. Sollux almost couldn’t make out his words. He was about to question him when Karkat kept speaking. “I heard you yelling.”

“Shit, KK, I’m thorry-“ Sollux said quickly, afraid he might have been out of line.

“Thanks.”

“… What?”

“For standing up for me …”

“… You’re welcome …” Sollux could have sighed in relief, but instead he just held onto him and stayed quiet.

“No one else would have done that.” Karkat pulled away from his shoulder to nuzzle against his neck again, then kiss his jaw.

Sollux swallowed thickly, feeling his face heat up. He’d never gotten this much affection from anyone before. “They had no right to thay thtuff like that.” He muttered. “You’ve been good to all of uth. They act like they don’t care, and they probably don’t."

“But you do.”

“Yeah, I do.” Sollux’s answer was immediate, not even realizing he’d said it. He tilted his head down to bury his face in Karkat’s hair, tightening his grip around him but not enough to be painful. “You’ve always been there for me when I’m down and I have more downs than any of them. I’ve never even thanked you for it …”

“That’s okay.” Karkat said softly in Alternian, making Sollux realize he’d started speaking in it again. “At least with you I could always tell you were grateful. Some of them appreciate what I do, but no one ever really says much.”

“But no one appreciates you, just what you do.”

“You do.”

“I do a shitty job at showing that.”

“You wouldn’t be here right now if you didn’t.”

Sollux scoffed, shaking his head a little but not pulling away. Karkat’s scent was keeping him calm enough to talk rationally about this. “I only came here in the first place because they told me to check on you.”

“Still, you stayed. And then you came back.”

“I guess …”

“Thanks, Sollux.” When he didn’t answer, Karkat spoke again, sounding more stern. “I mean it.” Sollux sighed a bit. At least his friend was starting to regain some of his usual attitude.

“Okay.” He murmured in response, keeping his face buried in Karkat’s hair, his arms around him. Karkat didn’t say anything more and silence re-established between them. But that was alright.

After a while, Karkat shifted a little. Sollux didn’t move. Then, without warning, Karkat pulled his head away from him. Sollux opened his eyes and lifted his gaze but didn’t get to do more as the next second found him liplocked with his friend. Stunned, he couldn’t move or respond.

A wave of emotions surged through him and he was torn between how to react. He wanted to kiss back, but at the same time he was afraid. It was obvious where Karkat was going with that approach, but if he knew he might change his mind …

Karkat didn’t seem offended by the lack of response when he pulled away, instead chuckling in amusement. “You seem so surprised.”

Sollux slowly opened his mouth to respond, but had no words. Instead he just exhaled. Karkat actually laughed, making Sollux smile a bit. He was feeling better, it appeared.  
“What are you afraid of?” He asked, obviously sensing his friend’s fear.

That, at least, Sollux could answer. “I’m … kinda fucked up, KK.” He admitted. “I’m just afraid you’ll realize that and reject me.” The truth had never been more painful.  
“You didn’t reject me for being a mutant.” Karkat murmured, leaning in again but stopping inches from his face. “I don’t think anything could make me reject you.” He whispered. “Anything.”

Sollux swallowed thickly, but then let out a soft sound he wasn’t sure what to call and closed that small space between them, pressing their lips together. His arms moved, one going up to wrap around his back and the other hand grabbing onto his arm. A second later Karkat’s hand found a place against his cheek while the other clung to his sweater tightly.

Karkat purred into the kiss, the hand on his cheek moving up to tangle in his hair. Sollux shivered, pulling away a second later to breathe. Or to pant. He pressed his forehead against Karkat’s, catching his breath, then hugged him close, burying his face in his neck and breathing in his scent.

Never before had he been so happy. Happiness was always rare with him in general, but this exceeded any amount he’d felt before. Karkat licked his neck, purring, and Sollux held him even tighter, as if trying to get closer to him than possible.

When he was finally able to, he pulled back. “So …” He said quietly. “Does this mean …” He trailed off, still a little nervous.

“Yeah.” Karkat said softly, leaning in to lightly kiss his nose. “We’re matesprits.”

Sollux smiled a real, genuine smile and purred.

“We should probably go back out there.” Karkat said, reverting back to English.

“Aw, why?” Sollux whined, also reverting back to English. He didn’t want to leave the room just yet.

“I have a few choice words I think some of those assholes I call my friends need to hear.”

That changed his mind. Sollux grinned. “Okay, fine.” He said, waiting until Karkat got up before also standing. “What about uth? We gonna tell ‘em?”

“Nah. Not just yet.” Karkat answered, taking his hand and heading to the door. He stopped there and pulled his new matesprit into a kiss. “They can figure it out on their own, or when we get annoyed at their failure to notice the most obvious things and tell them.”

“Thoundth like a plan.” Sollux grinned. Karkat chuckled and opened the door, stepping out into the hallway. He glanced back at Sollux as he was emerging from the room, grinned, then started down the hallway.

“HEY FUCKERS! I HAVE SOME VERY COLORFUL THINGS TO SAY TO YOU AND YOU BETTER HAVE SOMETHING FOR THE BLOOD WHEN YOUR EARS START BLEEDING!” 

Sollux covered his mouth to stifle a laugh as he followed him. Regaining his composure before entering the room was apparently going to be a difficult task.


End file.
